Vlad Plasmius
by ObsidianBlackCat
Summary: Before Tucker, Sam, and Danny, there was Jack, Maddie, and Vlad. What if Vlad hadn't become bitter and jealous right away? What if he had confided in his only two friends when he began to question his humanity? What if there's a town in Wisconsin that once had a 'pest problem' similar to Amity Park?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Life Changing

**I have a vague plan for this tale, and updates may be slow since I have another story I'm working on right now. But I will continue this.**

**Reviews will be much appreciated. Please feel free to throw ideas at me. Fanning the Flames makes them grow faster! *muffled laughter* Sorry. Puns and references just pop out when I write Danny Phantom.**

* * *

_Wisconsin Hospital, 1980s_

Jack and Maddie sat uncomfortably in the hospital waiting room.

This wasn't because of the seats. Together they took up a couch. Maddie perched on one end, Jack taking up the rest of the space. It wasn't luxury, but it wasn't hard.

This wasn't because of the sterile atmosphere either. They were scientists. They were used to even more safety precautions.

No, it was because of who they had come to visit, and worse, _why_.

Jack wasn't smiling or blathering on about ghosts or fudge.

That's how Maddie knew this was so serious.

The Accident had happened months ago, but they still felt so guilty. Jack blamed himself for making a mistake in the calculations. Maddie blamed herself for not triple-checking his work. Jack was a genius, but also a scatterbrain.

Vlad had been unconscious in the hospital since then with the first veritable case of Ecto-Acne.

Now he was awake.

This would not be the first time they spoke to him since the Accident, but it would be the first time in person, the first time they really discussed this.

Maddie had come out of her class the other day to find her beeper alerting her to a call from the hospital. She had called back, fearing the worst news.

When Vlad picked up, it had been far worse than she had feared.

He couldn't give them too much information over the phone, especially with the doctors nearby, but Vlad suspected his body was compromised by the ectoplasm. The Ecto-Acne was going away, but he was exhibiting other symptoms of Ecto-Contamination. He feared it would taint his humanity. He feared he would die, and come back as a ghost.

They were all scientists, so Maddie knew there was no way to confirm or deny something like that over the phone. She agreed to bring Jack and perform the appropriate tests. They knew what they would do if Vlad was right, and they had promised him they would stick to that plan no matter what.

They had received the instructions, the warning, shortly after they began their research. The government would keep an eye on them, eradicate anything that got out of hand. Anyone.

The fact that there was a set plan didn't make it any easier for any of them, but at least they knew they were doing their best to make sure everyone else was safe.

The nurse came then. She smiled cheerfully, hardly glancing at their somber looks. "Vladimir Masters is cleared for visitors. Are you ready to come in?"

Jack and Maddie followed her to Vlad's room. He was sitting up in bed, but his skin was paler than it usually was. It was strange to see after his face had been so red and swollen for all those weeks. And his hair. It was still long, but gray and white, as pale as his face. He smiled briefly.

"Thank you for coming."

Maddie shook her head, hoop earrings swinging. "It's the least we can do. We're the reason you're here in the first place."

"Nonsense, Maddie!" Jack interrupted, running a hand through his long hair. "It's all my fault. We figured out the purified ectoplasm was contaminated. I was in charge of that."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "We were both responsible for that experiment. It was a big job, and I checked the calculations too late." She looked back at Vlad. "We're so sorry."

Vlad looked between them, an unreadable expression on his face. "It's . . . Don't blame yourself, Maddie. We have more important things to discuss right now."

They nodded. Jack placed the suitcase he was carrying on the bedside chair. They had brought all of the safest and most portable equipment they could. It would just be enough to run some preliminary tests, but it was all they could do until Vlad was released, and they needed some answers now.

Maddie made sure the nurse wasn't hanging around and shut the door before going over to the briefcase. She pulled several syringes out while Jack adjusted one of their Ecto-Analyzers. Vlad had already pulled an arm out of his sheets.

"We're going to need quite a bit of blood to test. Let me know if you start to feel lightheaded."

Vlad smiled without mirth. "Relax, I've had plenty of practice the past few days." He looked down. "That's when I suspected something was wrong. The doctors keep finding abnormalities that they can't explain."

"It's probably a good thing they don't know it's ectoplasm," Jack proclaimed. "Or else they might quarantine you in a lab and dissect you!"

Vlad paled further.

"Jack, focus on the Analyzer. You're setting it too high," Maddie shot him a meaningful look. God, the man was so absent minded. Although, there was something so sweet about that. So innocent.

Maddie refocused her attention on Vlad, looking for a vein. It took a few minutes to obtain enough blood. When she was done, she went to turn off the lights. This was the first and simplest of their tests. She flipped the switch.

It was faint, but the three vials glowed enough to be seen in the dark.

"Well, you do still have ectoplasm in your blood," she said as she turned the lights back on. "Jack, are you done?"

"Yup! Hand me a vial."

He fumbled a little, but didn't drop anything as he loaded the sample into the small machine. That didn't take long either. It was just a repurposed spectrometer after all, and it didn't give detailed results like the one back in their lab, but it would give them some of the most important information. This Ecto-Analyzer could only detect active ectoplasm. Ectoplasm usually faded and sublimated in humans, or at least that's what they suspected usually happened. They hadn't found many cases to form a proper conclusion.

The Ecto-Analyzer beeped as the small screen lit up. Jack bent closer, frowning at it. "Hm . . ."

"What is it?" Vlad asked.

Jack looked up at him. "It's active."

They were silent for a few minutes. Maddie didn't want to say it. She knew it was what they had to do. She knew Jack wouldn't want to say it either, but she didn't want to be the one to say—

"I'll call the government this afternoon." Vlad said, his voice quivering only slightly.

"No!" Jack exclaimed suddenly. "No! I'm not giving up on you, Vladdie!"

"We don't have a choice!" Vlad insisted. His voice sounded less dignified with each word he spoke. "This ectoplasm is _doing_ something inside me! I can see in the dark! Things sometimes pass through my hands like they're not there!" He quieted suddenly, eyes wide and frightened. "Sometimes I can feel it, something humming in my chest. It's not a human feeling."

Jack spoke more quietly too. It was more impactful than if he had screamed his words. "We already put you in the hospital. I'm not going to put you on your death bed."

Vlad was speechless.

"Jack's right," Maddie agreed. "Ectoology is a growing field. That's why the government started that program anyway. We may not know how to treat this now, but a cure may be possible in time. We can figure out a way to extract the ectoplasm, or maybe deactivate it." She sat down on the edge of the bed, grabbing one of Vlad's hands. "Please, if not for yourself, do it for anyone else who might find themselves in your shoes. You know that the fabric of reality is thinning. This may be a common affliction in the future."

Vlad looked torn. Maddie knew she was putting him on the spot, offering him hope that may or may not exist, but he didn't deserve to suffer because of their mistake. She squeezed his hand, only to feel nothing there. Looking down, her hand was within his. She pulled it back before she thought about it, looking up to see his face twisted, resigned.

"Maddie," he whispered. "I appreciate your words, but you can see it. It's already affecting me. I know you would do all the appropriate tests to help, but what about the results? The GIW will do what is necessary. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"The GIW was only formed in the past six months!" Maddie argued. "We've been studying ghosts for years! If there's anyone who can help you, it's us!"

"But what if I can't be helped?"

There was silence. The heart monitor beeped, the doctors in the hall bustled, a thousand voices spoke within those walls, and there was silence.

And then there wasn't.

"Vlad," Jack said in his loud version of a low, serious tone. "You didn't believe in ghosts or the Ghost Zone when you first met us. Now you're convinced you've been ecto-contaminated. We've convinced you of the impossible. We've let the impossible harm you." He put a meaty hand on Vlad's shoulder. "Won't you let us make your survival possible?"

Vlad's eyes glistened. He almost seemed to fade out of sight as he struggled with the question. Maddie hoped they were making the right choice. She didn't want their friend to end up as a specimen on a metal slab, but . . . Jack was taking a risk by being so optimistic. There was a chance they just weren't equipped to deal with something like this. There was a chance this was contagious. She didn't want to burden Vlad with something that could be so potentially disastrous.

But it was much to late for that, wasn't it?

"You would risk your research rights?" Vlad asked slowly, a million emotions in his eyes. "For me?"

A small, determined smile appeared on Jack's lips. "I'd do anything for ya, Vladdie."

Vlad visibly relaxed. "Thank you."

Maddie released the breath she hadn't even noticed she had been holding in.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**So . . . my little experiment failed. This is my first time writing something without a buffer, and I was hoping to inspire myself to write a chapter every week but . . . I severely underestimated life.**

**On the bright side, I really am not going to give up on this. It's just going to take longer between updates.**

**Also, before anyone asks, the idea behind this chapter is that, in the show, Jack and Maddie managed to put an Op Center, a lab, a ghost portal, and torture chamber in their house. I think it's safe to say they're experts at renovating houses as well as hunting ghosts.**

**Hope you're all well!**

* * *

Vlad exited the hospital with Jack and Maddie at his side.

He wondered how long they would metaphorically be on his side.

It was not a mistake when Vlad had first started hanging out with the only two ectoology majors in the entire campus. He had lost most of his family (or at least the only family that mattered) long before he got to college. The chance that ghosts existed and had a world of their own was tantalizing to a man in his position. And when he had gotten to know Jack and Maddie, they had proven to be pleasant characters (or at least Maddie had).

But they had quickly assured Vlad that ghosts were likely not sentient beings. Their most recent experiments showed that the substance known as ectoplasm just preserved an imprint of brain patterns. They hadn't yet found any blob of goo that could string together words, much less retain memories. Maddie hypothesized that the intelligent, humanoid ghosts of haunted legends were either extremely rare or completely made up.

That's what worried Vlad the most. If this ectoplasm really was overtaking him, if they couldn't extract it, what would he become? Would he slowly lose his humanity and his sentience to become a hungering mass of glowing power? Or would he become the exception, an intelligent ghost unlike anything they had heard of? He didn't know which one was more likely. He didn't know which one he feared more.

(But honestly, he did. He was just reluctant to say he'd rather retain his coherence, even if he'd be more of a threat.)

To some extent, it was lucky that Vlad was his father's sole heir. If he hadn't inherited his father's entire modest fortune, his mother certainly wouldn't have given him enough money to rent his own place. But Vlad was a sensible young man. He hadn't spent his sudden bit of wealth on an extravagant place, though he had, thankfully, invested in someplace private. Vlad had never been fond of much company. That was his mother's craving.

The guest house was on a tiny corner of a large property on the edge of town, far enough that Jack and Maddie had been able to sneak in and make some . . . modifications. Vlad looked for them as he entered, but the small cottage looked as humble and bare as he had left it all those months ago.

"Come on, V-Man," Jack said enthusiastically as he pushed past Vlad to lead the way. "Wait 'til you see what we did to the basement!"

"But . . . there isn't a basement." Vlad frowned, trailing behind.

Jack took him to a closet, practically tearing the door open. Inside, the various items Vlad had once organized within lay about in chaos. Vlad turned to look back at Maddie. She was beaming, so there had to be more to see than the mess.

"Careful, Jack," Maddie warned the bumbling oaf. "We already had to fix the door twice. Now show him the entrance."

With some effort, Jack squeezed into the tiny closet. There was a beeping and clicking sound, like buttons being pressed. "The password is 'open sesame'!" A more pneumatic hiss filled the air, and Jack continued further into the miniscule closet. Vlad poked his head in, seeing the passage that had now opened. It would have led into pure darkness if Jack's bright orange shirt wasn't reflecting light like a beacon.

(And if Vlad hadn't suspected that he was gaining some ability to see in the dark.)

"What exactly did you add?" Vlad asked with some trepidation.

"Well, we had to be honest with ourselves," Maddie began to explain. "We've already established this needs to be done in private. And we need at least a level 2 clean room to be safe. So we built a new room underground!"

"We got some good stuff from the university too!" Jack's loud voice echoed back. He seemed to be headed down, although his bright colors were almost lost to the darkness. "They were just throwing the old stuff out!"

Vlad knew he was already paler than he should be, but he was certain he was growing even paler by the second. "What part of '_this is a rental, please keep things temporary_' did you not understand?" he asked faintly.

"We'd never be able to research this in a reasonable amount of time with a temporary, makeshift lab," Maddie said. "Now we'll be fully equipped to solve your problem! Come and see!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the passageway. Vlad's heart skipped a beat at the touch. The _other_ thing in his chest sang happily too. Vlad pulled his hand away, choosing to follow at distance.

They went down a flight of steps. A light turned on at the bottom. Vlad almost didn't want to see what they had made beneath his home. The couple that owned the property were nice enough. They had said he could do what he wanted with the décor. But what would they say to an underground lab?!

Taking a deep breath, Vlad stepped into the light.

It was, indeed, a lab. A fully stocked, pristine lab, and a large one at that. A workbench spanned the length, full of glassware and microscopes and some ancient looking equipment. A third of the room was partitioned off by thick glass walls; the containment area they had decided on. And in the back, enclosed in its own glass container, was—

Vlad's breath hitched in his throat.

_A flash of green—_

_A pain like no other, as if his very soul was being ripped out of him—_

_But it was stuck, so it kept being pulled, kept being hurt—_

"Vlad?"

Vlad blinked, grounded by Maddie's voice. It was laden with concern. He looked at her, into her purple eyes.

"Are you all right?" she asked, though her tone suggested it wasn't the first time she had asked.

Vlad nodded, taking a breath. That was when he realized he hadn't been breathing for all those . . . minutes? No, that couldn't be right. He could hardly hold his breath for a single minute. That was why he had never been fond of swimming.

"I'm fine." His voice was strained, but not breathless. "Why did you bring _that _thing _here_?" he hissed. He reasoned it was only fair that he could hardly stand the sight of the thing that had robbed him of months of his life.

"We've been scanning it every day since the . . . the accident," Maddie said, worry still in her eyes. "The area inside the portal is still ectoplasmically active, nearly unstable if our calculations are right. We couldn't leave it in the school where it might go off again. But on the bright side, studying the specific ecto-energy of the portal can help us figure out what it's doing in your body."

"You mean it can turn on again at any moment?!" Vlad demanded. "You've destabilized reality!"

"No, Vladdie! It's contained within the portal! It's only a tiny hole in reality!" Jack offered.

"A tiny hole in reality is still a hole in reality!" Vlad argued. "And now that hole is here in my house!"

The world flashed red, and Vlad took a breath to calm himself down. His friends may have added a basement full of dangerous ectoplasmic equipment to his home, but they had done it to help. He was lucky they were there at all.

He spoke softer this time. "Just . . . Do you know what the government would do if they knew you had all this?"

Jack and Maddie didn't answer for a minute. They looked a bit shocked at his outburst. Just when Vlad began to worry that he had ruined everything, Maddie answered.

"I understand," she said. "But that's the risk we already agreed to take."

Vlad nodded, looking around the lab again. "I know. I appreciate it." The silence began to press in again. "I guess I should bring some toiletries into the containment area—"

"Toiletries?" Jack asked, confused. "You're in your house, Vladdie! You can finally sleep in your own bed!"

"But—"

Maddie shook her head. She was smiling again. "If nothing drastic has happened in the past few months, then you're fine for now. I thought it would be comforting for you to stay in your own bedroom for now, even if it is under quarantine." She nodded to the stairs. "How about you have some lunch while Jack and I set up for the first tests?"

Vlad didn't bite his lip. He had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. But he hoped Maddie could see the appreciation on his face. The thanks in his smile. And maybe, someday when this was all over, he'd let her see the love in his eyes.

* * *

Maddie watched Vlad head up the stairs. She frowned. She had seen a lot of emotions in his eyes since she had known him, not everything she could place. But that moment when he saw the portal . . .

She hoped the red glow was only a temporary side effect.

"Jack," she said when Vlad was out of sight. "Are there still some moving blankets around? A big cloth of some sort?"

"Yeah, I think we left some lyin' around. Why?"

"I think we should cover the portal when Vlad is down here."

"Good idea! I'll go grab one! The lab coats are in the closet, and I even got the HAZMAT suits you wanted!" Jack bounded up the stairs.

Shaking her head at his enthusiasm, Maddie opened the closet he had mentioned. Even before she clicked the light on, the bright orange mass caught her eye. She pulled it out, almost surprised by its massive size. Jack really had managed to get his hands on some HAZMAT, and in his size no less. But why he would choose 'danger zone orange' was beyond her. She glanced at the tag.

Oh, he had made it himself.

Maddie smiled, examining the stitching. It was very well done. She vaguely remembered him mentioning his love of needlework. She hadn't known he was _this_ talented though. Now curious, she flipped on the light. An unintentional sigh of relief escaped her lips. Her suit wasn't orange, but a slightly less dramatic teal. Pushing the orange HAZMAT suit back into the closet with difficulty, she took out the smaller one. Was it even her size? It was smaller, but Jack didn't have her measurements. She took off her leg warmers and pulled the suit on. It fit quite nicely. In fact, it was just about perfectly conformed to her body. And it was surprisingly comfortable for HAZMAT.

"It fits!"

Maddie jumped, turning to find Jack back in the lab, already spreading the blanket over the portal's glass case. It was amazing how he managed to move so silently when he wanted to. Though that wasn't often.

"Yes, it fits. Thank you. It's very comfortable."

"You look real good in it too!"

Maddie felt herself blush. "Thanks."

"I'm already working on another set of HAZMAT suits," Jack continued. "I don't think the regular material is enough protection from ecto-energy. I want to add some of my momma's blood blossom leaves to the weave. The Fenton's have used them to ward off ghosts for generations!"

"Blood blossoms, hm? We'll have to test them out someday. But we need to focus on Vlad right now. The sooner we figure what's happening with him, the sooner we can stop it."

"Makes sense, Mads! Lemme put mine on!"

Maddie jumped out of the way as Jack made a beeline for the closet. It was a reflex she was only just beginning to get used to. She had realized very quickly that any friend of Jack's had to be on high alert at all times.

It didn't take him long to pull the HAZMAT suit on despite his girth. His was also skintight. The sight wasn't as awful as Maddie had expected though. Who knew bright orange HAZMAT could make someone look so good?

Blinking several times, Maddie looked away and went over to the workbench and began turning on the machines they would be using that day. Judging from the loud sounds of beakers and other supplies clattering together, Jack was assembling everything else they would need.

By the time they were done, Vlad was coming down the stairs again. Maddie watched him as he entered. His shoulders tensed slightly when he saw them in HAZMAT, but they relaxed when he noticed the portal was now out of sight.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Maddie answered. "Are _you_ ready?"

He walked resolutely to the examination table. "Does it really matter what I want? This has to be done anyway."

"You're still human, Vlad," Maddie insisted. "We're willing to slow the pace if it makes you more comfortable."

Vlad looked at her, looking ready to argue, but stayed silent. He offered his arm to Jack, who was already holding several syringes.

The examination began.

Their purpose today was to investigate exactly how ecto-contaminated their friend was. They had determined ectoplasm was in his blood at the hospital, and Maddie was now wondering about his eyes, but they didn't know for sure if it was throughout his body. And wherever it was, they needed to know how it was affecting him. Who knew what ectoplasm could do to the heart? The brain? Only once they had samples could they begin testing ways to purify him.

It would be a long process. And sadly, it was lengthened by their less than stellar equipment.

"Jack, I can't get this NMR to work," Maddie complained, fiddling with the knobs more roughly as time passed.

"Oh, here, use this!"

Maddie reached behind her to grab what Jack was handing to her. She wasn't expecting to feel the smooth shape of a ceramic mug. She held it in front of her, frowning. It really was an old white mug. 'World's Greatest Mom' was printed in pink on one side.

"Jack, this is a mug."

"Yup!"

Maddie turned around to try to catch Jack's eye, but he was busy with his own work. Vlad shook his head, rolling his eyes. But there was a smile on his lips.

"That's Jack for you," he said.

"Jack," Maddie tried again. "How did you get the NMR to work last time?"

He looked up, nonplussed. "I used the mug. Just bang her right on top whenever the reading gets fuzzy! Here, let me show you!"

Vlad scoffed. "Delicate, scientific machinery doesn't just start working when you _hit_ it."

Ignoring Vlad, or more probably not hearing Vlad's words at all, Jack took the mug from Maddie and slammed it down on the top of the machine. The screen sprang to life, lines as crisp as if it were new. Vlad gaped at it, open-mouthed.

"There ya go! You might have to keep hitting it every few minutes, but she works like a charm!"

Jack gave Maddie back the mug and went back to his own area of the workstation. Chuckling under her breath at the unlikely solution, she proceeded to exam the spectra the NMR spit out. She did have to hit it a few more times, but eventually she had the data for each sample. Jack was already done by then. They sat together at the table and cross-checked each other's work (or rather, Maddie doublechecked both of their work).

This wasn't looking good. This wasn't at all what they had expected.

This wasn't supposed to be possible. Maybe they had made some mistake. With all of their data. Why did it all concur? This didn't make sense!

"Well?"

Maddie stopped shuffling through the papers, looking up at Vlad. For the first time since she had met him, he looked so insecure.

"You've been redoing the calculations for the better part of an hour," Vlad continued. "How bad is it?"

His voice brought her back to reality, to rationality. She couldn't simply proclaim all of their data was wrong. Every single test corroborated the rest.

The ectoplasm wasn't just in Vlad. It was _part_ of him. His organs had learned to function with it over the months he had spent in the hospital. His biology was no longer working normally. It was no longer working like a regular human's.

Maddie cleared her throat, but Jack spoke before she could.

"The ectoplasm is everywhere! It's at the levels we predicted for a fully corporeal ghost!"

Maddie winced at Jack's wording. She watched Vlad's reaction, but he was stoic. Unmoving. At last, a small sigh escaped his lips.

"I'll bring my bedding to the containment area."

"Vlad, don't—"

"Don't what, Maddie?" Vlad asked dispassionately. "We already agreed to the protocols, remember?" He stood from the examination table, looking her in the eye. "Just promise me you'll fix me."

Maddie nodded. "Of course we'll do our best! We won't give up."

"Yeah, V-Man! We're with you all the way!"

A small smile pulled at Vlad's lips. He looked at both of them, but his eyes lingered on Maddie when he said, "Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Oof, time has not been kind to this story. This chapter is a bit short, but it introduces an important head-canon thing that this entire idea is based off of. More will be explained in future chapters.**

**Chaos-Wolfy: Don't worry. I don't plan on putting Vlad and Maddie together. Not sure if there'll be a pity date in his future though. Or maybe the classic fake-out make-out . . .?**

* * *

Maddie stared into the containment unit, absently fiddling with one of her hoop earrings. Vlad lay within, reading a Physics book. He always insisted on staying behind the glass whenever they invited him into the lab. Maddie suspected he slept in there too whenever they were away. He had gained some of his weight back, but he still looked deathly pale. And he refused to go through the hassle of dyeing his hair.

It had been two weeks since she and Jack had started trying to help Vlad, and they had made progress in leaps and bounds. They had stumbled upon a method that should be able to drain all ectoplasm out of him. Maddie hadn't expected to find something so soon. But it looked like Vlad might be returned to his former glory. Well, he probably wouldn't regain his hair color, but he would likely be ectoplasm-free in less than a month at this rate. He would get his life back.

Maddie turned to Jack with the first genuine smile she had had in days. "Where's the sample of ecto-cyclo-octane?"

"You mean Ecto-Dejecto!" Jack yelled proudly, holding out the small, green spray can. Maddie saw he had slapped a sticker on it and indeed given it that name.

"Ecto-Dejecto?" she repeated dubiously.

"Our inventions need a name, right?" Jack pulled out the small dish of ectoplasmic goo they had managed to collect over the past few days. "Let's test this baby out!"

He sprayed the Ecto-Dejecto onto the blob. Sure enough, it shrank, losing its ghostly green glow. Maddie beamed at him. He grinned back with sheer joy.

"Jack! We did it! Now all we need to do is—"

"Fix Vladdie!" Jack finished. Maddie frowned.

"No, Jack. We need to run more tests first and check how it interacts with ectoplasm in the long run and—Jack! No!"

But Jack was already running into the containment unit. He practically shut the door in her face.

"V-Man! Check this out!"

Vlad hardly had a chance to look up from his book when Jack squeezed the nozzle.

"Bonzai!"

Vlad visibly tensed at Jack's choice of exclamation before beginning to cough. The green mist surrounded him for a second before dissipating. Maddie put a hand to her forehead, hoping their prototype was safe enough. Her hand went back to playing with her earing as she watched him closely for any signs of discomfort.

Once he regained his composure, Vlad glared at Jack. He opened his mouth, probably to tell Jack off for spraying him without warning, but no words came out. Instead, he began to gasp for breath. "Something—_cough_—Something's wrong," he choked out.

Vlad fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

"Jack! I told you to wait!" Maddie screeched, rushing over to one of the cabinets. "Check his vitals!" She grabbed the first aid kit and turned, ready to rush to Vlad's aid.

She wasn't expecting to find a giant green blob in her way.

Maddie screamed.

* * *

Over the past few weeks, Vlad had grown familiar with the _thing_ in his chest, if not comfortable. It sat in the middle of his rib cage, just beneath his heart. He had grown used to its hums and its warmth and other feelings that he couldn't find words for. Vlad was well aware that he had most certainly not had such a _thing _before the Accident. He was far from happy whenever he felt it, but he tried to take note of it now and then. It was obvious it was related to the ectoplasm in his body, and he figured it could help him predict his health.

Right now, it was in pain.

Vlad had not felt this much pain in a long time. And this type of pain, never. It felt like he was weakening and melting, but in such a way that he was losing the warmth in his chest. It felt like he was collapsing into himself. It felt like the _thing_ was quivering, his flame sputtering out—

But just like that, everything reversed. The flame roared to life. The _thing_ grew, warmth spreading over his entire body. His back arched back as he stretched. He felt stronger than he had ever been.

He felt alive.

Vlad stood, taking a long slow breath, marveling in his new strength.

Then he heard the scream. _Maddie's_ scream.

He opened his eyes, searching for her. He wasn't expecting to see the green ectoplasmic octopus holding her in its slimy grip.

The thing in his chest lurched with his stomach, and in that moment, everything became clear.

Maddie needed him (just like he needed her).

Vlad threw himself at the beast, wrapping his arms around it and squeezing. Hard. It screeched, releasing Maddie. With her out of harm's way, Vlad proceeded to grab its tentacles and spun, like a barbel thrower at the Olympics.

A brief ghost of a memory flashed before his eyes from when his mother still had hope that he would amount to anything in life and had paid for all sorts of sports.

He let go, and the beast went flying to the wall, _through_ the wall.

And then it was gone.

Vlad took a deep, shuddering breath, eyeing the spot where it disappeared. But as the seconds ticked on, he supposed it wasn't coming back. The tension began to ebb away from his body, the thing in his chest relaxing—

His heart skipped a beat when he finally realized that the humming in his body was not caused by adrenaline, but by that _thing_. It felt so much stronger now, so much more _real_. Before he had wondered if it was only in his head, but now there was no denying the warmth, the _power_. Vlad marveled at the feeling. He hadn't felt particularly well since the accident, and whatever Jack had sprayed on him had made him feel even worse, but now he felt strong and, truth be told, more alive than ever. He had just confronted a dangerous blob, possibly a ghost. He had just saved Maddie's life!

The thing in his chest bubbled with happiness at the thought before seizing again.

Maddie! Was she all right?

Vlad whirled around and found Maddie still on the floor. She was staring at him, not with admiration as he had hoped, but . . . was that fear? Why was she still afraid?

"Maddie?" Vlad asked. His voice echoed somewhat oddly. He supposed it was just in contrast to the sudden silence. "Are you all right?"

She stared up at him, mouth open in shock. That was understandable; she had just seen a ghost after all. But Maddie was a strong woman. Nothing ever fazed her for long. She should be brushing herself off and planning how to capture the ghost by now.

What was wrong?

"Vlad?" Maddie said, although it was more of a question.

"What is it?" Vlad pressed. Was she hurt? Had he driven the ghost off too late? He stepped closer to get a better look at her, but nearly fell out of the air.

He was _in_ the air. He was _floating_.

What was going on?

Vlad looked down at himself. He was wearing his white lab coat, the one that had been destroyed the day of his accident. And—and he was _glowing_—

His vision blacked out for a moment. When he came to, he was lying on the floor. Jack and Maddie were towering over him, but they didn't touch him or help him up.

They were afraid.

_He_ was afraid.

The first thing Vlad did was look down at his body again. The lab coat was gone now, and he certainly wasn't glowing. It had probably all been a delusion. He breathed again, beginning to push himself into a more dignified sitting position.

Hadn't he been breathing the entire time?

"Vlad?" Maddie asked again. She reached out a hand, but she still didn't touch him. "How do you feel?"

He looked up at her. Concern was written all over her face. "I'm—I feel fine." Now that he said it, he realized he did, in fact, still feel the strength and power that had seized him immediately after being sprayed by Jack (the buffoon). It was diminished, but sill there. "Are _you_ all right? Did that—that thing hurt you?"

"I'm fine." She paused, chewing at her lip. When she spoke next, her voice was rough, as if she was seconds away from crying. "We're going to need to run some tests. Will you . . . will you please go back into the containment area?"

Vlad nodded immediately. "Of course, but . . . Maddie, what happened?" He debated asking specific questions, like if he had really been floating, but decided against it. His friends would have said something already if he had been. As it was, he really had probably hallucinated most of the past few minutes. He didn't even know if the ghost he had fought was real. It may have just been a particularly large blob of ectoplasm.

Jack and Maddie exchanged glances. "We're not sure," Jack admitted, voice as serious as Vlad had ever heard it.

Vlad's heart sank. Maybe the ghost _had_ been real, but certainly not the rest of the absurdities he had imagined. Right? For a minute, he sat there, so many questions on the tip of his tongue. Of all the questions, only one was spoken.

"How long was I out?"

"Less than a minute," Maddie answered somewhat hollowly.

"Ah," Vlad replied smartly, and he stood, making his way to the glass door. It did not go unnoticed when Jack locked it behind him.

They had never locked the door before.

* * *

Under the pretense of preparing dinner, Jack and Maddie left the lab and went upstairs to discuss what they had both seen.

Vlad had looked like a ghost.

Granted, neither of them had really seen a ghost before, but their research had given them an idea of the basic physical attributes of ghost. Glowing, floating, unnatural skin color.

And Vlad checked all the boxes.

At least, he _had,_ for a brief moment.

"Jack, are you _sure_ you saw Vlad floating in a lab coat with black hair and blue skin?" Maddie asked for the fifth time.

"Of course, Mads. I saw him plain as day! He even went through the glass of the containment unit!"

"He _what?!_"

"Yeah, he didn't bother with the door! Wouldn't have gotten to you as quickly if he had." Jack frowned. "He got to you way faster than I did."

Maddie reached up to pat him consolingly on the shoulder. "It's all right, Jack. It's—well . . ."

For once, Jack caught on to where her train of thought was headed. "It was the Ecto-Dejecto, wasn't it? It's my fault." He buried his face in his hands. "What've I done to poor Vladdie?"

"It's not your fault! I made it too, and we were both eager to try it on Vlad." Maddie pulled his hands away from his face so he could look at her. "Besides, Jack, you also saw what it did to the ectoplasm sample too, right? I think the spray only temporarily weakens ectoplasm. Then it—I don't know, I guess it magnifies the ectoplasm, like steroids to some extent."

"So it multiplied the ectoplasm in Vladdie's body?" Jack asked.

"We'll know for sure when we run the tests, but yes, that seems like the most probable answer."

"But that doesn't explain what happened to Vlad when he—when—!"

"Maybe it does. Vlad is the first person we know of to have such high levels of ecto-contamination. If the spray did multiply his levels further, then maybe—maybe that was an illusion? Or else it was a temporary transformation caused by excited ectoplasm."

"But he still went through the wall!" Jack insisted. "And the Ecto-Dejecto turned a tiny bit of ectoplasm into a full ghost! What if it turned Vlad into a ghost too?!"

Maddie crossed her arms. "Jack, Vlad couldn't have possibly turned into a ghost. First off, he's not dead. I checked his pulse when he fainted. Second, he's returned to his normal look, and we already know a ghost can't look exactly like a human. Third, he was in control of his actions the entire time. A ghost wouldn't have been nearly as aware."

Jack pouted. "But what if he turns into one now? I ruined his life, and now I'm ruining his death!"

Maddie pulled him into a hug, her arms barely making it halfway around his waist. "It'll be all right. We're going to help him. No matter what, we'll fix him."


End file.
